THE ABSENCE OF INSTANT GRATIFICATION IN ITALIAN SOCIETY For me the way food is served at the McDonald's at Pisa train station represents the society I grew up in and university life. Opportunities seemed readily available as is food on the Mcdonalds ...

OLD TUSCANY HABITS I visited Giardino Scotto where I could work on a table in the shade. This time students from the Pisan theater were rehearsing dance routines and in a week or so the same outdoor venue will become an outdoor cinema in the evening. ...

During the last three visits to the Questura in Florence I've seen the same British people at the Questura and whilst waiting for our appointments we have long conversations about our individual situations and the impact Brexit is having on our lives. ...

I had a 4 day break in Pisa which I did because I had an appointment with the Questura in Florence to pick up my biometric Italian residency card.In the beginning it seemed like an arduous duty. In the end I did far more pleasurable things than visi ...

OLD HABITS I almost always visit Empoli when I need to go to Florence from Pisa by train. I take the same regional train routes Florence to Pisa and Pisa to Florence Mainly I visit my bank in Empoli called Banca Cambiano which ever since the ...

Im a planner. Im a plotter Im an organizer and Im a dreamer. I can be a bit of a romantic an adventurer and an information seeker. I know all of these dimensions about myself because of travel. I have learned I have an insatiable appe ...

After a short 2.5 hour flight I had arrived in Shanghai. It's starting to get dark and I find myself queuing for ages to get a taxi to take me to my hotel. I am so grateful to Elaine for writing the address of my hotel on a big sheet of paper in Shanghain ...

It was a cold but fine winter's day. Where would you expect to find a Kiwi grandmother with her two young grandkids At the beach of courseOtotoka Beach is about 30 minute's drive from Wanganui. It is located at the end of Ototoka Beach Road at Maxwel ...

About a mile from Blackjack I was looking for another historic marker and found the Town of Griffin Historic Marker on county road 4716. I did not see the Griffin Cemetery. Nearby Griffin I saw a private ranch and then an old building. Also nearby Griffin ...

Again I was awake by 6am but this time without having gotten the chills so I had a good night's sleep. And again by the time I woke up my wife was back with a fresh hot cup of coffee for me. Just another of the many reasons I love her. Since we had ...